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Uncommon Gratitude (Book) Joan Chittister & Rowan Williams | Joan Chittister Books
Uncommon Gratitude (Book) Chittister & Williams
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Title: Uncommon Gratitude: Alleluia For All That Is Format: Book Author: Joan Chittister, OSB and Rowan Williams Pages: 193 Condition: New
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Uncommon Gratitude:
Alleluia For All That Is
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Joan Chittister and Rowan Williams
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Hardcover 193 pp.
In Uncommon Gratitude, Joan Chittister and Rowan Williams,
Archbishop of Canterbury, offer a wealth of life experiences to be
grateful for — things for which we can sing “Alleluia.”
These include: God, peace, wealth, life, faith, and unity. But also
death, divisions, sufferings, and even sinners.
As Joan Chittister says in her introduction, “Life itself is an exercise
in learning to sing ‘Alleluia’ here in order to recognize the face of
God hidden in the recesses of time. To deal with the meaning of
‘Alleluia’ in life means to deal with moments that do not feel like
‘Aleluia moments’ at all.”
Archbishop
of Canterbury Rowan Williams often says that, no matter what, the proper
stance of the Christian in the world is one of gratitude. In this book,
Sister Joan Chittister, OSB, and Archbishop Rowan Williams offer us a
sweeping set of things and circumstances to be grateful for—things for
which we can sing "alleluia," "praise and thanks be to God."Some are
things we naturally feel grateful for: God, peace, wealth, life, faith,
and unity. But when these are set alongside other things we would never
think to sing alleluia about—death, divisions, sufferings, and even
sinners—we begin to see, as Joan Chittister says in her introduction,
that "Life itself is an exercise in learning to sing ‘alleluia’ here in
order to recognize the face of God hidden in the recesses of time. To
deal with the meaning of ‘alleluia’ in life means to deal with moments
that do not feel like 'alleluia moments' at all."
In this series of reflections it becomes clear that singing
"alleluia" is not a way to escape reality but receptivity to another
kind of reality beyond the immediate and the delusional, of helping us
understand what is now and what is to come.
Contents:
Introduction
Discovering What We Are
Faith
Doubt
Wealth
Poverty
Differences
Divisions
Conflict
Sinners
Saints
Becoming Who We Are
Genesis
Life
Unity
Otherness
Past
Peace
Suffering
Crises
Exodus
Growing Into The Unknown
Friday
Death
Future
Darkness
God
Excerpt from the Introduction by Joan Chittister:
Someplace along
the way, in the early years of my growing up, I heard someone
explain that people who went to heaven would sit at the throne of
God and sing “Alleluia” all day long. “Oh, no,” I groaned inwardly.
At that moment, heaven, however important it remained in my young
mind, lost some of its immediacy, if not some of its luster.
Then, I grew up and realized the import of what it might really mean
to be able to sing alleluia all day long, every day of your life.
The very thought of it spun my world in an audacious new direction.
What if life itself was meant to be one long alleluia moment? Here,
indeed, resided the real meaning, the real hope, of life. But was it
possible?
Years passed, however, before Archbishop Rowan Williams and I found
ourselves agreeing to write a book together. We were both clearly
marked by a monastic mindset that valued reflection above all else
in the marketplace of spiritualities. Both of us took ideas as
seriously as we took footnotes. God, we knew, was a mystery in which
we lived every moment of every day. The only question is, How? What
kind of a God is this God we seek?
Finally, I asked him directly, “What really interests you most about
the spiritual life?” He paused a moment. “I find myself coming back
again and again,” he said, “to the meaning of ‘alleluia.’”
And then we were off. It took two days of thinking together in the
archbishop’s London office at Lambeth Palace to find our way through
to what we were both saying in slightly different accents: Life
itself is an exercise in learning to sing alleluia here in order to
recognize the face of God hidden in the recesses of time. To deal
with the meaning of alleluia in life means to deal with moments that
do not feel like alleluia moments at all. But how is it possible to
say alleluia to the parts of life that weigh us down, that drain our
spirits dry, that seem to deserve anything but praise?
The question is a worthy one. Life, after all, is a struggle, a
journey in uncharted space, an exercise in both gain and loss, joy
and sorrow. No life consists of nothing but success and
satisfaction, security and self-gratification. Failure and
disappointment, loss and pain are natural parts of the human
equation. Then what? What use is an alleluia then, except perhaps to
encourage some kind of emotionally unhealthy self-deception?
But alleluia is not a substitute for reality. It is simply the
awareness of another whole kind of reality — beyond the immediate,
beyond the delusional, beyond the instant perception of things.
One of the oldest anthems of the church, alleluia means simply “All
hail to the One who is.” It is the arch hymn of praise, the ultimate
expression of thanksgiving, the pinnacle of triumph, the acme of
human joy. It says that God is Good — and we know it.
In the Hebrew Scriptures, the word is an injunction to praise, a
call to the people to summon up praise in themselves. It is a
challenge to see in life more than is seeable in any single moment
and to trust it.
In the Christian Scriptures it is a formula of praise. Most of all,
it is an intensely emotional response that, in early liturgical use,
was said the entire year, as it still is in the Eastern Church, even
in liturgies for the dead. In the most ancient part of the Christian
tradition, then, it calls us to see all of life as life-giving,
somehow, in some way, whether its present gifting is apparent or
not.
This book sees alleluia as a call to reflection, as the basis of
contemplation, the final “Amen” to all that is, at whatever its cost
to us now.
It
is an alleluia view of every present moment, a view that welcomes
its complexity and subjects it to the more lasting view, the long
view, of life.
To that, alleluia.
Joan Chittister, OSB, is a Benedictine nun and international
lecturer who has been a leading voice in spirituality for more than
thirty years. She has authored forty books.
Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, is acknowledged
internationally as an outstanding theological writer, scholar, and
teacher. He has been involved in many theological, ecumenical, and
educational commissions and has written extensively across a wide range
of fields of professional study – philosophy, theology, spirituality,
and religious aesthetics. He has also written on moral, ethical, and
social topics and, since becoming archbishop, has focused more intently
on contemporary cultural and interfaith issues.
Praise for Uncommon Gratitude:
"A soul stretching book by two contemporary prophets.
Alleluia for Joan Chittister and Rowan Williams for this
inspiring and timely message of hope in the midst of so much
fear and violence. A faith filled and prophetic perspective
on the dark and hurting spaces in our world and lives. We
are both invited and challenged to pick up our pieces, dry
our tears, shake ourselves down, and continue the journey
with renewed hope and joy. Alleluia indeed."
-Edwina Gateley
Poet, writer, international speaker, and women’s advocate
"What does it mean to be a Christian? In Uncommon Gratitude,
two persons formed by monastic prayer practices (and
incidentally respected theologians) reach across
denominational lines to form a common understanding of a
‘life of alleluia.’ Without sentimentality or triviality,
Chittister and Williams show how one can realistically offer
praise and wonder in the face of the often uncertain or
discouraging circumstances of ordinary life. These
reflections are rooted in the conviction that God is good,
and all of life—including doubt, death, conflict, wealth—is
life-giving. Suffering, for example, calls us to a new way
of being, is the ground of compassion, and moves us beyond
our smaller, less developed selves. Darkness reveals that
all growth does not place in the sunlight, and God works in
our vulnerability and lack of control. These are challenging
and not comforting reflections, resting in study of the
surprising God revealed in Genesis, and the Exodus vision of
a community built on mutual trust. The depth offered here
invites the reader to slow and reflective response, allowing
time for this wisdom to take root in the soul."
-Dr. Norvene Vest
"One finishes this book with renewed gratitude—for faith and
doubt, for all that is, for two wise spiritual teachers who
remind us that God is present not just in the peak
experiences, but in the hidden depths of our everyday life."
-Robert Ellsberg
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